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Manufactured‑housing project in Orleans deemed financially nonviable after Act 250 opposition, developer says
Summary
A developer told the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee that a planned cluster of manufactured homes in Orleans, Vermont, collapsed after community opposition and an Act 250 challenge made the project financially untenable.
Sean Straffen, owner of New Kingdom Properties LLC, told the Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee that his plan to build multiple new manufactured homes in Orleans, Vermont, was abandoned after local opposition and an anticipated Act 250 legal challenge made the project financially nonviable.
Straffen said the concept was to build a cluster of single‑family, Energy Star–rated manufactured homes on municipal water and sewer to create affordable ownership opportunities in the Northeast Kingdom. "We could probably do this project for under $150,000 per unit," Straffen said, describing 3‑bedroom, 2‑bath homes he bought through Skyline Homes and the company’s HUD certification to install and inspect manufactured housing.
The project Straffen described would have placed 51 units on about 20.8 acres, with estimated infrastructure costs of roughly $3 million. Straffen said town bylaws — which he described as allowing only one unit per acre in…
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